Osteopenia Case Study

Dear Aunt Sally, as woman reach menopause, the estrogen in their body rapidly declines. Our bones are constantly remolding themselves all through life. As estrogen is a necessary hormone in bone development, the onset of menopause and subsequent loss of estrogen can be catastrophic for our skeletal system. The bone loss starts off as Osteopenia. Osteopenia refers to having bone mineral density that is below normal levels but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. Bone Mineral Density (BMD) needs to be tested in woman over 60 to check for the early onset of osteoporosis. A BMD test is used to take these measurements and the most accurate test is called a DEXA procedure. According the WebMD Osteoporosis Health Center, Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) tests measure the bones mineral density with X-ray beams

The T Score you get after the test is kind of like “grade.” Based on the result, 0 is normal, anything above is considered high, and anything below is low. This T score is just a number that tells us how high or low the patients bone mineral density is in comparison to a healthy adult. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH), “Anything more than one standard deviation from the mean is considered either above or below average.” The hip and vertebra are where these measurements are taken and they both get a T score. The numbers listed in this particular case study are -2.3 for the vertebra and -.4 for the hip. Since normal T scores would be found closest to 0, a score of -2.3 for the vertebra is a clear sign of bone mineral loss; this also clearly evidenced from the DEXA tests in prior years. According to eMedicine, the hip’s T score, -.4, isn’t even a full standard deviation away from 0. This number has not changed over the years. It is close to healthy